Thursday, September 17, 2015

my friend drags me in an excited whirl
to the edge of the cliff overlooking the lake,
her face beaming in the bright light
of this glorious spring day that waves
new greenery like banners in the breezes

she whispers urgently, do you see it?
across the lake, there, in the cliff
on the other side? the alligator?

it's obvious by my reaction that I don't,
and she burbles in her desire
for me to do so, declaring that it's huge,
running the entire length
of the cliff on the other side, right
above the mirror of the lake

then I do, and what a view!
it looks so real, I say, and so huge
that if it were an ancient fossil
it would give a good accounting
of itself next to a t-rex, nay,
out shadow that famous dinosaur

my friend quickly responds that it is
an actual fossilized 'gator,
shining out of the rocks,
bared at last by the slow
fingers of the alternating seasons

I choke off a disbelieving laugh
for I don't want to disrupt her happy wonder
at this giant accident of natural weathering,
after all it's still a wondrous sight,
this cliff side that teases our eyes,
masquerading as a behemoth of a 'gator

as I rummage in my shoulder bag
for my camera, I hope I can find an angle
for a shot in which those tall dark trees
on the lake's center island don't appear
to pierce the chalk white
belly of this sleeping 'gator

[free verse poem on a dream of 9-16-15. I Googled alligator symbolism and in a wealth of interesting things to think about, found this quote: "New vision is created when we draw on Old Ways" (a Seminole saying). I'll have to leave it at that as this is one of those jam-packed dreams that will reveal itself as it will, layer by layer. I should add that I watched the PBS show "Dawn of Humanity" last night, about finding the fossilized bones of a heretofore unknown human ancestor. On another topic altogether (but maybe not totally unconnected to the dream), today would have been my deceased brother's birthday. Does one wish the departed a happy birthday? Odd to say, but I do. Photomorph "At the Crossing" (1-17-15 010v10d) by Roswila]

PLEASE NOTE: in most browsers you can click on the above image for a larger version. Also, the photo accompanying a post is not necessarily meant to illustrate it, but to reflect some small, even slant aspect of the verse, similar to Japanese haiga (illustrated haiku).

There are many other sorts of posts on this blog. I indicate which are about or influenced by dreams. Some non dream focused posts are book reviews, "regular" poems (some by other writers, as the above is), scifaiku, writing exercises, Tarot haiku, photos, haiga, and so on. However, most of those are in much older posts. There's a listing by month going back to early 2006, at the end of the sidebar.

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About Me

Retired, I'm grateful to indulge in daily blogging, taking digital photos, writing poetry every day, and other creative efforts as the spirit grabs me. I also enjoy reading my poems and sometimes improvising on one of the musical instruments in my collection (e.g. didjeridu or kalimba), in our retirement community's regular Talent Shows. And I also occasionally play a role in one of
our radio plays, written by a resident,
and read on stage as if an actual radio show.

"Ganesh dances joyfully,
each step out of now into now again;
each footprint filling to overflowing with kindness.
Remover of Obstacles, clear me out of my own way;
teach me how to dance lightly through life,
how to spill over with love." -- prayer by Roswila

"The hardest challenge is to be yourself in a world where everyone is trying to make you be somebody else." -- e.e. cummings (poet & painter)

"There's a thin line between dreaming and waking... The line is not hard and fast. It's more like passing through a waterfall. Really it's just a two sided organic system; on the surface individual blades of grass, underneath it's an intertwined mass of roots we can barely comprehend." -- As explained on the T.V. series FALLING WATER

"You're only paranoid if you're wrong." -- quoted in a play by Steven Dietz

"Fear is a natural reaction to moving closer to the truth." -- Pema Chodron

"The past is not dead, it is not even past." -- William Faulkner

"Art is the only way to run away without leaving home." -- Twyla Tharp (dancer/choreographer)

"Wisdom begins in wonder." -- Socrates

"Before the light which all things give off dies in the heart it must be expressed." -- Basho (haiku Master)

“The only normal people are the ones you don't know very well.” -- Alfred Adler

"For every expert, there is an equal and opposite expert" -- attributed to Arthur C. Clarke (author)

"The first principle is that you must not fool yourself - and you are the easiest person to fool." -- Richard Feynman (physicist)